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Grail Quest #6
Realm Of Chaos
A sorcerer's curse has turned the kingdom of Avalon into a land of nightmare. Leprous fogs blot out the sun, putrid fungus attacks buildings, gold rusts, acloth rots and decay and death pollute the land.
You must find a way to end this curse.
ISBN:0006924972
You must find a way to end this curse.
ISBN:0006924972
208 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 27, 1986
40 people want to read
About the author
J.H. Brennan
99 books47 followersJames Herbert "Herbie" Brennan is a lecturer and the author of over one hundred fiction and non-fiction books for adults, teens, and children.
His works have been translated into approximately fifty languages, he has also written books on the Occult and New Age. He initially trained in esoteric teachings and Qabalah with the Fraternity of the Inner Light, and later became associated with Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki and the Servants of the Light.
In 1995 he contributed two novels to the Horrorscopes series under the house pen name Maria Palmer.
In 2003, Brennan published the children's book The Book of Wizardry: The Apprentice's Guide to the Secrets of the Wizards' Guild under the pseudonym Cornelius Rumstuckle.
His works have been translated into approximately fifty languages, he has also written books on the Occult and New Age. He initially trained in esoteric teachings and Qabalah with the Fraternity of the Inner Light, and later became associated with Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki and the Servants of the Light.
In 1995 he contributed two novels to the Horrorscopes series under the house pen name Maria Palmer.
In 2003, Brennan published the children's book The Book of Wizardry: The Apprentice's Guide to the Secrets of the Wizards' Guild under the pseudonym Cornelius Rumstuckle.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 6, 2021
An Off-World Adventure
5 December 2021
It turns out that all of a sudden Avalon has been covered in fungus, and it appears that the kingdom is disintegration. In fact, things are so bad that Merlin has to run and hide because his robes turned to dust and all that is left of his clothes are his long johns, and apparently for some reason seeing somebody in their underwear is just as bad as seeing somebody without any clothes as well. Well, okay, that might be the case if one’s underwear pretty much consisted of what we tend to wear today, namely boxers and/or lingerie (which turns out to be French for underwear), but it sounds as if seeing something in their long johns can be just as embarrassing. Maybe it has something to do with it not being all that fashionable – I’ve known plenty of people who would have been pretty embarrassed to be seen in something that is not at all fashionable.
Anyway, it seems that once again the mighty King Arthur and his knights aren’t able to solve this problem (but then again we are talking about a bunch of people who had an awful lot of trouble trying to find a cup), so it basically comes down to Pip, being possessed by some being from the future, to deal with it instead. Mind you, it sounds as if between adventures Pip is put in cold storage, which is a little odd considering that he has a family back in Glastonbury, whom I hope are quite wealthy now considering all of the money that he has brought back for them.
Anyway, this adventure first of all requires you to search through Glastonbury to find a way into Arthur’s Castle, and once there to find some things that will allow you to travel to the Astral Plane where you can put an end to the curse. One interesting thing is that apparently this wizard is responsible, but it turns out to be a bit of a bait and switch.
Going with the themes of these books, you of course meet up with the Poetic Fiend (though these encounters seem to take place near the beginning of the book), and you also have some things to build – like literally – such as the phantom crusher, and the portable hole which you have to cut out and then assemble. Fortunately you can actually complete the adventure without having to deal with the portable hole, considering that at the time I didn’t have a pair of scissors, or a photocopier (namely because I really didn’t want to hack up my book).
The Astral Plane is a little different because pretty much everything is random. If you do happen to have planewalking, which only lasts a short time, you can travel normally, but otherwise the spheres you travel to are basically determined by a dice roll. Mind you, that is sort of something that you would expect from traveling to the Astral Plane, and in a way it is one of the many things that Brennan does to set these gamebooks apart from the many other ones on the market.
My biggest gripe, and it certainly is quite a big gripe, is that there were errors in the book, namely that you were sent to incorrect paragraphs. This didn’t happen once, but rather it happened multiple times, which I have to admit was really rather annoying. Fortunately, I was able to get to the end without too much difficulty.
Oh, and while this might be stating the obvious, Glastonbury is actually a real place in the county of Somerset in England. It actually has a connection to the Arthurian Legends, but the thing is that it sounds as if some monks decided to make it up in the 10th Century because, well, pilgrimage sites were a boon for the economy. In fact, they came up with this story that Joseph of Arimethea traveled here with the holy grail, and hid it somewhere, as well as this town being the burial place of King Arthur. As for Glastonbury Tor, well, there is a ruined tower that stands atop it, and it will be rather nice to go and visit one day, if that will ever be possible again.
5 December 2021
It turns out that all of a sudden Avalon has been covered in fungus, and it appears that the kingdom is disintegration. In fact, things are so bad that Merlin has to run and hide because his robes turned to dust and all that is left of his clothes are his long johns, and apparently for some reason seeing somebody in their underwear is just as bad as seeing somebody without any clothes as well. Well, okay, that might be the case if one’s underwear pretty much consisted of what we tend to wear today, namely boxers and/or lingerie (which turns out to be French for underwear), but it sounds as if seeing something in their long johns can be just as embarrassing. Maybe it has something to do with it not being all that fashionable – I’ve known plenty of people who would have been pretty embarrassed to be seen in something that is not at all fashionable.
Anyway, it seems that once again the mighty King Arthur and his knights aren’t able to solve this problem (but then again we are talking about a bunch of people who had an awful lot of trouble trying to find a cup), so it basically comes down to Pip, being possessed by some being from the future, to deal with it instead. Mind you, it sounds as if between adventures Pip is put in cold storage, which is a little odd considering that he has a family back in Glastonbury, whom I hope are quite wealthy now considering all of the money that he has brought back for them.
Anyway, this adventure first of all requires you to search through Glastonbury to find a way into Arthur’s Castle, and once there to find some things that will allow you to travel to the Astral Plane where you can put an end to the curse. One interesting thing is that apparently this wizard is responsible, but it turns out to be a bit of a bait and switch.
Going with the themes of these books, you of course meet up with the Poetic Fiend (though these encounters seem to take place near the beginning of the book), and you also have some things to build – like literally – such as the phantom crusher, and the portable hole which you have to cut out and then assemble. Fortunately you can actually complete the adventure without having to deal with the portable hole, considering that at the time I didn’t have a pair of scissors, or a photocopier (namely because I really didn’t want to hack up my book).
The Astral Plane is a little different because pretty much everything is random. If you do happen to have planewalking, which only lasts a short time, you can travel normally, but otherwise the spheres you travel to are basically determined by a dice roll. Mind you, that is sort of something that you would expect from traveling to the Astral Plane, and in a way it is one of the many things that Brennan does to set these gamebooks apart from the many other ones on the market.
My biggest gripe, and it certainly is quite a big gripe, is that there were errors in the book, namely that you were sent to incorrect paragraphs. This didn’t happen once, but rather it happened multiple times, which I have to admit was really rather annoying. Fortunately, I was able to get to the end without too much difficulty.
Oh, and while this might be stating the obvious, Glastonbury is actually a real place in the county of Somerset in England. It actually has a connection to the Arthurian Legends, but the thing is that it sounds as if some monks decided to make it up in the 10th Century because, well, pilgrimage sites were a boon for the economy. In fact, they came up with this story that Joseph of Arimethea traveled here with the holy grail, and hid it somewhere, as well as this town being the burial place of King Arthur. As for Glastonbury Tor, well, there is a ruined tower that stands atop it, and it will be rather nice to go and visit one day, if that will ever be possible again.
March 17, 2022
For the last few days, I have been using RedHack
(85 pages available at DriveThruRPG, free/pay what you want). This fantasy system is a 1d20 system where you are trying to roll high. It skips all the stuff for beginners, so you do need to have some RPG experience to use it. I used Grail-Quest #6 Realm of Chaos as the solo engine. I created four RedHack characters: a frogfolk, a slimefolk, an air genasi, and a fire genasi. I used the adventure that is included in RedHack. I made the mistake of having these characters low on dexterity, no armor, and minimal fighting skills. What was I thinking? This exciting adventure started at the inn. My characters talked to six of the ten NPCs and picked up the quest. They walked to where they thought the mining complex was supposed to be, but they could not find it (this is where my bad rolls started – the bad rolls did not stop). They found it six hours later. It was now dark, so they set up a camp 300 yards away. It was a quiet night. On the second day, they used a rope to get down to the “dungeon” where they were immediately attacked and forced into close combat. They were able to wound some of the attackers, but then two characters died which included Blue Eyes the air genasi (see the attached image). The slimefolk character, which had been hit three times, collapsed to the floor, acting like he was dead. He then slowly oozed himself to another room by squeezing through a crack in the wall. This new room was a woodworking room (generated by the solo engine Grail Quest #6). It contained sawdust, wood, tools, and a chest with some gold. My slime hid in here until everyone in the place was asleep (day 3, and yes my fire genasi is now dead) and then he snuck out. It helped that he had the feat Climb Up Walls (this document has three pages of feats).
So, this adventure was a disaster, only one character survived and only two rooms were discovered. Maybe you will have better luck. Enjoy!
(85 pages available at DriveThruRPG, free/pay what you want). This fantasy system is a 1d20 system where you are trying to roll high. It skips all the stuff for beginners, so you do need to have some RPG experience to use it. I used Grail-Quest #6 Realm of Chaos as the solo engine. I created four RedHack characters: a frogfolk, a slimefolk, an air genasi, and a fire genasi. I used the adventure that is included in RedHack. I made the mistake of having these characters low on dexterity, no armor, and minimal fighting skills. What was I thinking? This exciting adventure started at the inn. My characters talked to six of the ten NPCs and picked up the quest. They walked to where they thought the mining complex was supposed to be, but they could not find it (this is where my bad rolls started – the bad rolls did not stop). They found it six hours later. It was now dark, so they set up a camp 300 yards away. It was a quiet night. On the second day, they used a rope to get down to the “dungeon” where they were immediately attacked and forced into close combat. They were able to wound some of the attackers, but then two characters died which included Blue Eyes the air genasi (see the attached image). The slimefolk character, which had been hit three times, collapsed to the floor, acting like he was dead. He then slowly oozed himself to another room by squeezing through a crack in the wall. This new room was a woodworking room (generated by the solo engine Grail Quest #6). It contained sawdust, wood, tools, and a chest with some gold. My slime hid in here until everyone in the place was asleep (day 3, and yes my fire genasi is now dead) and then he snuck out. It helped that he had the feat Climb Up Walls (this document has three pages of feats).
So, this adventure was a disaster, only one character survived and only two rooms were discovered. Maybe you will have better luck. Enjoy!
June 17, 2024
Sexta entrega de 'La Búsqueda del Grial'. En esta ocasión una terrible maldición ha caído sobre Avalon y casi todo el mundo parece haber desaparecido. Merlín ha perdido su capacidad de hacer conjuros y el castillo de Camelot se ha convertido una fortaleza inexpugnable bajo una capa de hongos que invaden el lugar. Así que toca encontrar el origen de la maldición y, por supuesto, acabar con ella.
Esta aventura se divide en varias zonas que debemos explorar para completarla. Hay par de mapas explorables por secciones (el pueblo de Glanstonbury y el castillo de Camelot) y un par de laberintos.
El primer laberinto es bastante asequible y bastará con que tomemos nota de por donde vamos para revisar toda la mazmorra. Pero el segundo... ay, el segundo... A mí me desquició por completo. Se trata de un curioso mapa del Plano Astral en el cual el azar tiene mucho, demasiado que ver. El caso es que tienes que tirar dados y depende de lo que saques te puedes mover entre estancias o te teleportas a una al azar (y son casi todas un dolor de muelas en forma de peligros). La curiosidad es que el mapa te lo dan. Lo que tienes que cubrir son los huecos a medida que te teleportas, poniendo especial atención en las salidas de cada 'burbuja' para intuir donde estás.
A mí me llevó varios días completarlo porque, un dolor añadido, es que lo que haya en cada esfera se regenera cada vez que caes en ella. Y anda que no hay maldades. El tema está en que la salida, por supuesto, no está en una de las 'esferas directas', sino que tienes por necesidad que ir completando el mapa con las esferas a las que puedas acceder en cada momento según unas tiradas. ¿No te has enterado de nada? No te preocupes, yo tampoco me enteraba en los primeros compases. Creo que la idea es interesante pero, en este caso, la ejecución me ha parecido un poco complicada de más. Por lo menos para intentar paliarlo se repite en cada sección las instrucciones y, al final, con un poco de paciencia y bastantes visitas al 14, pude salir de ahí. Pero entre lo poco que me gustan los laberintos y lo mucho que odio los resultados que dependen puramente del azar, confieso que esta parte se me hizo muy cuesta arriba. Aunque ¿sabéis una cosa? Empiezo a pillarle el truco al tema de los laberintos. ¡Si al final el roce hace cariño, que lo decía mi padre!
Una cosa que me pasó en 'El reino secreto' y nuevamente me sucede en este libro es que hay momentos en los que tengo la sensación de que Brennan quería hacer más cosas pero no le dio tiempo. Hay algunas partes que me han parecido puro relleno, en concreto el castillo de Camelot, en cuya mayor parte las estancias solo parecen tener una función descriptiva de lo que hace la maldición. Tengo la sensación de que ahí debería haber más contenido pero, por algún motivo (espacio o tiempo), se mandó a imprenta sin terminar del todo. Es una sensación personal, puede que otra persona lo vea y diga 'pues está todo correcto'.
Y aún con sus defectos, sus laberintos y su excesivo azar, sigo disfrutando mucho de esta colección que, pese a la friolera de años que tiene encima, me sigue pareciendo de las más frescas. Me parece sublime como Brennan era capaz de mezclar una narrativa ágil con mecánicas que te mantengan atento a la parte técnica.
Ahora me toca visitar la Tumba de las Pesadillas. Deseadme suerte...
Esta aventura se divide en varias zonas que debemos explorar para completarla. Hay par de mapas explorables por secciones (el pueblo de Glanstonbury y el castillo de Camelot) y un par de laberintos.
El primer laberinto es bastante asequible y bastará con que tomemos nota de por donde vamos para revisar toda la mazmorra. Pero el segundo... ay, el segundo... A mí me desquició por completo. Se trata de un curioso mapa del Plano Astral en el cual el azar tiene mucho, demasiado que ver. El caso es que tienes que tirar dados y depende de lo que saques te puedes mover entre estancias o te teleportas a una al azar (y son casi todas un dolor de muelas en forma de peligros). La curiosidad es que el mapa te lo dan. Lo que tienes que cubrir son los huecos a medida que te teleportas, poniendo especial atención en las salidas de cada 'burbuja' para intuir donde estás.
A mí me llevó varios días completarlo porque, un dolor añadido, es que lo que haya en cada esfera se regenera cada vez que caes en ella. Y anda que no hay maldades. El tema está en que la salida, por supuesto, no está en una de las 'esferas directas', sino que tienes por necesidad que ir completando el mapa con las esferas a las que puedas acceder en cada momento según unas tiradas. ¿No te has enterado de nada? No te preocupes, yo tampoco me enteraba en los primeros compases. Creo que la idea es interesante pero, en este caso, la ejecución me ha parecido un poco complicada de más. Por lo menos para intentar paliarlo se repite en cada sección las instrucciones y, al final, con un poco de paciencia y bastantes visitas al 14, pude salir de ahí. Pero entre lo poco que me gustan los laberintos y lo mucho que odio los resultados que dependen puramente del azar, confieso que esta parte se me hizo muy cuesta arriba. Aunque ¿sabéis una cosa? Empiezo a pillarle el truco al tema de los laberintos. ¡Si al final el roce hace cariño, que lo decía mi padre!
Una cosa que me pasó en 'El reino secreto' y nuevamente me sucede en este libro es que hay momentos en los que tengo la sensación de que Brennan quería hacer más cosas pero no le dio tiempo. Hay algunas partes que me han parecido puro relleno, en concreto el castillo de Camelot, en cuya mayor parte las estancias solo parecen tener una función descriptiva de lo que hace la maldición. Tengo la sensación de que ahí debería haber más contenido pero, por algún motivo (espacio o tiempo), se mandó a imprenta sin terminar del todo. Es una sensación personal, puede que otra persona lo vea y diga 'pues está todo correcto'.
Y aún con sus defectos, sus laberintos y su excesivo azar, sigo disfrutando mucho de esta colección que, pese a la friolera de años que tiene encima, me sigue pareciendo de las más frescas. Me parece sublime como Brennan era capaz de mezclar una narrativa ágil con mecánicas que te mantengan atento a la parte técnica.
Ahora me toca visitar la Tumba de las Pesadillas. Deseadme suerte...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews